MME charter school makes adjustments

Edward F. Maroney

Thursday

Jun 26, 2008 at 2:00 AMJun 26, 2008 at 9:00 PM

With its five-year charter up for renewal, Marstons Mills East Horace Mann Charter Public School is getting its house in order.

EDWARD F. MARONEY PHOTO KEEPING THEIR HEAD – Interim principal Ken Keenan, moments after the Marstons Mills East Horace Mann Charter Public School voted to give him the permanent post June 23. The final step, approval by the Barnstable School Committee, is expected next month. Lowers deficit, names principal

With its five-year charter up for renewal, Marstons Mills East Horace Mann Charter Public School is getting its house in order.

A “loan” of sorts from the school district to cover a shortfall of $120,000 from the previous fiscal year is within a few thousand dollars of being paid back. MME’s board of trustees has decided to hire interim principal Ken Keenan for the permanent post, and the Barnstable School Committee is expected to concur when it meets next month.

The stumbles and successes of the school’s first five years will make it stronger in the next half-decade, board members agreed at a meeting June 23.

MME became a Horace Mann charter school when it received its first charter, promising to create a new model in which lessons learned in programs for children identified as gifted and talented would be shared with the entire student body. Progress as measured by state assessments has been mixed, at one point showing a decline in some scores, but there have been academic success stories as well.

Keenan told the board it needs a five-year plan for managing enrollment, suggesting that the school’s cap should be lowered in stages over that time from 475 to about 440. The lower number would be comprised of 88 students per grade level.

MME has struggled to accommodate a “bubble” class that is now in the fourth grade and numbers 109.

Following the fiscal year 2007 deficit, the board made a commitment to build a surplus, and Keenan highlighted both careful ordering by teachers and staff shifts as reasons for optimism that such can be achieved in the coming year.

He noted that Beth-Anne Allen, who’s served as internal coach for the Accelerated Schools Plus program the school has followed, will be taking charge of a classroom again.

Whether the school can raise a surplus to the level suggested in an audit was a concern of Tom Dolby, a former school committee chairman who attended the June 23 meeting. Keenan said the board “really needs to focus” on funding concerns, adding that a development committee is being formed.

“This is the way we’re going to get ourselves back to where we thought we were with our finances,” he said.

Also this week, the board added its signature to an agreement that will need approval by the Barnstable Teachers Association as well regarding a potential conflict of interest. Keenan’s wife, Mary Jo Keenan, is a Grade 1/2 teacher at MME.

Under the agreement, Keenan would have “no responsibility for formal supervision or evaluation” of his spouse, which would be assigned to the system’s director of curriculum. The principal would recuse himself in the event of a grievance being filed.

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